The Voice Inside Your Head
by jiemae
Summary: Having problems with seeing your potential? Making up your mind about things? Going on long tangents about secret crushes concerning a certain raven-haired boy? Nothing an Inner can't help you with! – SI OC as Inner Sakura.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this is actually an idea that my sister had, and the majority of this first chapter is written by her. She's **SassySizzleMonster** here on FF, just to let you guys know. This has been in her pile of ideas for a year now, so I had to take matters into my own hands. This story will not be a main focus of mine (I'm much too busy with my other ones), but should have regular updates considering each chapter will only be 1k-2k. Depending on the reaction though, I am willing to lengthen it into something more, and put more focus on it, so review, follow, or favorite to let me know!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **The Voice Inside Your Head**

* * *

You respond in kind to a greeting with a small smile or grand one, depending on who the person inquiring you is. So to a mother or a father, you would smile largely and jump with excitement. With someone unknown to you, you either give them a curt nod or a small upturn of the lips, not so big that they think you're friendly but just enough that they think you're timid.

I'd like to think you could make strides of your own to becoming someone more confident with your steps, but from what I've seen you're the impressionable flighty type. I know you're the person who needs someone wiser or stronger to give you the courage to change. I also know that this will take time; that you'll grow from this sad, self-pitying girl into a strong woman with fists that can take down cities.

But I really shouldn't have to deal with you all by myself, I mean if _you_ have self-worth issues try imagining how mine is! I mean, I _am_ the one in _your_ head after all. I don't have corporeal form, and I certainly don't have a real say in how you grow up or how you treat yourself.

But I will still try my best because, after all, I have nothing better to do.

* * *

 _Chapter 1_

* * *

Sakura reads the chalkboard with only mild curiousness. She hasn't had much interest in lessons lately once they had taken on a dead sort of quality. However, the young pinkette would still hope everyday would mean for something new and surprising to pop up and give her something to quench this thirst for knowledge. Too bad though, it's just another chakra exercise and light stretching. She resists the urge to stick her tongue out in distaste when regarding the teacher.

Being as it was the fourth week into her second school year she wasn't expecting anything _huge_ to work on, but she still would have liked a challenge. Chakra exercises were too easy for her, after all, and there came a point where she just wanted to ask to skip ahead in lessons.

The young eight year old sighed into her palm, sitting all by herself in the classroom as she felt her eyes trail over to look at a distinctive pale blonde color for hair.

 _Pig_.

Sakura had thought it bitterly, recalling the fight they had gotten into about a week ago. They were not talking anymore.

Stubbornly, she ground her teeth and forced herself to look at the only person she ever felt happy around.

He still has a sour expression, but she can understand why. The boy who she holds feelings akin to a crush towards had been going through a tough time recently. Of course she couldn't say much about the experience Sasuke had but she had heard quite a bit about the Uchiha clan—it was sort of hard to miss the lack of police force these days—and could very well see the struggle the boy was enduring.

 _Sasuke_ , she thinks, aching for him to look her way. She thinks that if he does, she can only imagine, that she could help him. Sakura wishes to be the one that he leans on, and she only thinks dreamily of a day where he can smile just as boldly as he used to.

The young pinkette still couldn't comprehend _why_ she cared about Sasuke the way she did. After all, so did many of the other girls in class, but she knew for a solid fact that it was in entirely a different way than she herself was used to. Sakura liked many things after all, things like her favorite foods or reading a nice book in front of a stoked fire. Yet none of those things made her stomach turn over on itself or make her head feel so light, or hot, than the way _Sasuke_ made her feel.

Sighing out dreamily, she continued to watch his shoulders rise and fall in an even and steady manner and Sakura even went as far as to match it with her own.

It was then, much to her surprise, he looked up, his eyes shooting up to glance at her. He looked just a touch confused before his expression hardened. Sasuke looked away from her then, and she felt her lips pull out into a pout.

If he feels bad about something, it's only right that she feels the same thing. Because she knows there's a darkness that hides the true brightness to his eyes—keeping him from smiling like he used to. She wonders throughout class how someone so beautiful to her eyes can exist.

It's sad to be honest, for her I mean. She's in love with that boy even if she doesn't quite know what that is yet. It's a crush right now, a tiny one. But I already know how strong it'll grow. She'll be wanting him and no one else for the rest of her life, as terrible as that was.

Maybe I can help her with that though, maybe I can change even just that so she isn't such a pitiful girl as a academy student. After all, her formative years were more cringe worthy than most, with the way she continuously embarrassed herself without realizing. Even worse, however, had been her time spent as a genin.

Anyone with a fair amount of sense would tell you Sakura as a genin was pitiful. Her younger self was understandable, but her genin years were just a damn shame. I used to joke with my sister that when Sakura matured, she had more cringe attacks over the things that she did than the both of us combined. And that's saying something.

Even now, Sakura sighed outwardly as she gazed at Sasuke's back, liking the way his hair juts outwards, even though an entire fandom laughs about it and calls it a duck butt. In real life it's pretty much a duck's butt, but I'm certain Sakura probably doesn't even know what that looks like yet. As sad as that is.

I feel bad for her.

I feel even worse for myself.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Happy Halloween! My tenses are weird with this story.

* * *

 **The Voice Inside Your Head**

* * *

You enjoy looking at him, although, you don't know what to say. You tend to spout nonsense and go with the flow other girls give off because you're still that impressionable little pipsqueak that can't say much for herself. You rise to challenges made by them—namely by blonde ones with _way_ too much to say to a fellow eight year old. You really shouldn't do that, you've been learning problem solving skill in school so you really shouldn't get upset. But you do.

It's painfully clear that you still have so much to learn. You are smart, so you pick up on things easy, but you are also dumb so you pick up on the stupid habits. Things like the judging of others, searching for the latest diets, and vainly comparing yourself to other girls. You don't need them. I have so many things to teach you, so many habits that have formed that I need to break.

But _why_ is it so goddamn hard to _talk to you!?_

Listen to me! Really!

I don't enjoy this any more than you will later, so this is truly in your best interest that you choose to acknowledge this voice of mine as separate. I'm not scary, I promise!

 _Gahhh_ , I give up for today.

You're impossible.

* * *

 _Chapter Two_

* * *

Sakura had been mildly disturbed for a while now but she doesn't like to think about it. Instead, she looked to Sasuke, sighing dreamily, before shifting her gaze to glare darkly at any other girl doing the same. She's a bit of a hypocrite, this one, and very selfish. Inwardly, she thought the other girls were just a tad bit prettier than her, and she scrutinized the fat around her arms. Sakura tends to overcompensate for what she lacks in other departments about herself. She often talked a big talk about her competency as a ninja, but in all honesty, she knew she wasn't all that great.

The very least she could do was score good on the tests, but the rest, like the bukijutsu or taijutsu, was lost to her. She lacked accuracy with her aim, and her movements in a fight were slow in response. She wasn't as quick or agile as a certain blonde, causing her to inwardly fume with agitation. She would try to get better at things, but her body was just so infuriatingly weak.

I could tell her it was probably due to the diets she inflicted upon her growing body, but she wasn't very keen on listening to the voice of reason.

So frustrating.

Ever since the day Sakura could remember, I had existed, stuck right in her head with the memories of a past I did not like to think about. I don't have a name, and I have yet to be responded to yet. Years have gone by with me just screaming to myself in this hollow world filled only with the senses Sakura had, as well as her often maddening immature thoughts that flitted in and knocked against me like physical weapons.

"Sakura! Eat!" I cried out, voice loud and piercing, sounding just like the young girl's. Probably because I could not recall or take comfort in anything else. As much as I hated my current state of existing, much like Stockholm Syndrome, the young girl was someone I had to learn how to like—otherwise I would not be so sane.

She still gave no response, however, and I laid down in defeat, head hitting against something fluffy, much like a cloud. In here, I had never felt pain. I was very much protected by the nothingness that echoed so largely in the black void. It had been since an eternity, it felt like, since I've been here, having no will of my own or body to control. It was just empty, lacking color, light, warmth.

Nothing, but it was still everything to me.

Sakura suddenly interrupted my train of thought by suddenly standing up, and I feel only the emotional side of the motion. I do not feel the muscles tensing and relaxing, I do not feel the gravity that keeps the pinkette grounded, and I most certainly do not feel the increased heartbeat that she experiences. All I _can_ feel is the excitement, the unease, and I can so clearly hear her internal monologue going on a tangent.

 _Sasuke_ , she was screaming on the inside and I winced when the sound reverberated and bounced off the wall with a sharp frequency. Not painful, but terribly uncomfortable. You sort of have to give it up for the young Uchiha who is surrounded by these shrieks daily. Such a trooper, that one.

The blonde abruptly bumped into Sakura's arm, probably by accident, as the vast majority of the girls in class followed after the young raven-haired boy while he stepped out of the classroom.

Lunch time. My personal hell. The very time I would see all of the goodies the kiddos got to eat, while my mental mouth watered at the sight of it. Goddamnit.

Sakura glared at Ino once he's pretty much out of sight, before she grounded out, "Don't touch me, _pig_."

The Yamanaka scoffed, "Whatever," she started, flipping her hair, " _forehead._ " In my perspective, she was so obviously hurt, but Sakura chose to ignore this, instead seeing that pensive expression as something akin to fighting words.

The Haruno is inwardly wincing at the name calling, but she doesn't let herself linger on it before turning her nose up into the air. The pinkette quickly busied herself with locating the "object" of her affection. Possibly, if she put just as much emphasis on Sasuke that she did on her taijutsu and bukijutsu, she could very well be a prodigy. Probably not though.

Wishful thinking on my part.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Tenses still be weird.

I don't know what I will do about the days I update on, but this story will probably get a new chapter every other day.

Thank you all so much for all the support so far!

* * *

 **The Voice Inside Your Head**

* * *

You were eight when you first began to make a distinction from your voice to mine.

Words cannot explain the sense of elation I felt when it happened, the breath taking moment it had been once you had spoken such a simple and tiny word. It had meant the world to me.

 _Hello?_

I had stood there; frozen, shaking, and near tears. I was nervous, unsure if you were actually, _actually_ , talking to _me_. My silence seemed to disturb you, you had been expecting something, and then you felt sort of crazy for talking to yourself—the _other_ girls never talked to themselves. She couldn't help but think she was strange, never mind her large forehead.

"Hello!" I replied, voice sounding thin with the excitement that coursed through me. I jumped up, hand pumping in the air exuberantly as the news sunk in. It still felt unreal. You were usually such an idiot, but today spoke loudly of how you were maturing.

You reeled back, however, suddenly put off by my response. You didn't actually _want_ to be crazy, but now you had found you actually were.

Join the club, missy.

* * *

 _Chapter Three_

* * *

Sakura felt she had officially gone crazy. _Talking to herself!?_ What had even compelled her to do it in the first place? Being as she was just a freshly turned nine year old, she was expected to be much more mature than that. Practically a full-fledged adult, as she would be graduating a few years yet, Sakura couldn't help but be concerned.

"Sakura, sweetie? Is something the matter?" Mebuki called to her soft-faced daughter, expression pensive and quizative.

The pinkette decided to push the thoughts away then, flicking off the strange feelings that passed over her with a shudder before bringing her chopsticks to her mouth. "I'm okay. We've been using our chakra a lot more in class lately and it's been a bit tiring."

It wasn't exactly a lie; in fact, they truly had been focusing more on learning how to use ninjutsu and dabbling in effective practice for the hand seals. Sakura had been paying more attention than usual in her studies, probably having been affected by the vehemence I had placed in sending images and thoughts of studying to her head.

A few months back I had learned the helpful tool of subconsciously affecting her actions in everyday life. Somewhat like brainwashing, if I just sent subtle, helpful suggestions to her thoughts, they would eventually make themselves known like an echo inside a cave. Very fitting sort of simile, I do say so myself. After all, I had been stuck in one for much too long and I was probably coming to slightly abuse the system.

At the very least, Sakura had been eating more lately and was slowly gathering more strength.

Still, she was very stubborn on her affections for Sasuke—much to my disappointment—and nothing I had done so far had turned up to affect anything in that regard. So it wasn't as if I had total control over Sakura, although I sometimes wished I did.

I've had a lot of time to think by myself.

I hated to admit it but most days I felt unhinged by the last bolt that connected my sanity to the nonexistent walls. There was nothing to hold onto these days, and it was particularly infuriating to watch the pinkette these days.

"It's raining, it's pouring," I sang bitterly in the empty shell I existed in. I craved to sleep—I could not handle another moment awake, to be just simply sitting in the darkness. Her eyes shut, there was nothing to watch, no glimpse of moonlight that would come to caress the edges of the bed or glint off against the glass covering framed pictures. I could not see it, I could not feel a thing.

I existed in nothing, and was also nothing.

"Mom?" Sakura suddenly spoke, interrupting the long, jumbled train wreck of a thought I was having.

Mebuki looked up from her own meal, brows raising, "Yes?"

"I'll be a little late coming home today, I have to visit the library to get more books on iryo-ninjutsu."

I sat up, whispering thoughts careening around me as I set up a fist in the air, "Hell yes!" So _this_ message had been successfully sent. Now, if only I could get her to talk to me on an instant messaging level. As it was, we were running on a dial-up connection at best.

"So inspiring you are, my little flower," Mebuki beamed, "working so hard in your studies. Your father and I are so proud."

I let her words sink in, letting me get a hint of a satisfaction at the good job I had done in somewhat raising her young, easily malleable mind.

"Thank you," I replied, grinning broadly.

Sakura tried to smile back at her mother but felt her muscles tense at the disturbing voice she had just heard in her head.

"Well, it's about time," I commented, just waiting for another response.

The pinkette cleared her throat, brows creasing before set down her chopsticks, "Uh, I'm going to head over to school now, or else I'll be late. Bye, Mom!"

With that she quickly exited the house before hurriedly shuffling down the busy stone paths, determinedly focusing on anything but the charming voice inside her head.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yo. Enjoy.

* * *

 **The Voice Inside Your Head**

* * *

You are older now, nine, and with less certainty in yourself than you ever had before. You still have that accursed crush—and it seemed unlikely to fade in this lifetime. Can I blame you for this? I surely can't but I can be bitter over it. Romance matters little to me, now that I lack a body, a proper heart, and even a voice of my own. Instead I am like a carbon copy of you in your head so I don't scare you.

Every once in a while, I speak in real time with you but it is rare and often leaves me maddened with the dangled carrot-like conversations.

Boys are the least of my concern—I have to think of your future! _Our_ future! Don't you understand? That's why all I have left is the power of suggestion, whispering words that later, in a snail mail fashion, reaches you. See? You're grades are improving!

I'm not scary.

I'm not scary.

I'm real.

I'm real.

Listen to my words, I beg.

 _Please._

She isn't listening.

* * *

 _Chapter Four_

* * *

Sakura chopped at the fish—another failed subject—and frowned at it. She could tell that she's only slightly improved since the last time but only by decreasing the amount of unsalvageable fish meat. Even now the edges are blackened and crisp with an ash like texture.

 _One day this might be Sasuke_ , she thinks and nods to herself with certainty. She won't be giving up just yet.

For now, however, she needed to call it quits. Otherwise she'd be close to facing chakra exhaustion and after all the reading Sakura had been doing, she didn't want to test her limits with such little supervision. They didn't take her seriously, after all, but she was determined—filled with it really. She had only managed to convince one iryo-nin to get around to teaching her after classes, and they weren't exactly the best teacher but it was enough for _something_.

After all, without Hisoka Tachibana, she would have to wait all the way until she was a graduate for her to start the actual practice of iryo-ninjutsu.

Sakura quickly cleaned the rest of the fish, packing it away into the sack she had brought from lunch earlier in the way. Clearing her throat, the pinkette gave a small wave of goodbye to the burly looking man with his nose crammed in his book.

"See you tomorrow, sensei," she added, as an afterthought.

"See you," Hisoka nodded to her in acknowledgement, his eyes never leaving the page he was on.

Leaving the room, Sakura was still curious as to why he accepted her pleading if he wasn't interested in her in the slightest. Really, she probably just wasn't used to being around older people—men especially—so maybe it was an adult thing? She really hoped her next sensei, the one after graduation, wouldn't be as cryptic and confusing.

I had to pity the optimistic thinking.

 _Hi_ , Sakura suddenly thought and I jumped, startled by how sudden it was.

"Hello," I answered, "are you ready to accept me?"

 _I guess so_ , she paused, biting her lip and I heard only the jumbled mess of her conflicted feelings, _you had said that you were just another me._

"Basically," I murmured softly, "I am another you."

 _You also said you know how to...you know how to make me stronger. Strong enough to protect someone, right?_

Flashes of Sasuke's face beamed into her consciousness and I stifled a laugh.

"Yes, I know the perfect way to protect him. Listen, something is going to change soon, and the only way for us to keep him safe is to become powerful. Iryo-ninjutsu will become necessary, but you must also practice taijutsu, okay? And eat! For goodness sake, _eat!_ Your body will thank you."

 _You must really like food_ , Sakura outwardly giggled, _I mean, you're always talking about it when I try to go on diets._

"Maybe I do," I sniffed, agitated that she was taking this so damn lightly. Still, she was just a young little girl at the moment. I could give her a little bit of leeway for that.

I was going to turn her into something a more, however. Sakura Haruno going to become better than even that stupid Uchiha.

 _What do I call you though?_

I paused, and I was quiet.

I had nothing to say because I was...nameless.

There was no way else to say it.

Yet, I still persisted in searching for other words to assimilate to this occurrence. How could I just outright say it?

 _I'm not real anymore._

At least, I had no corporeal form, I wasn't human in that sense. I wasn't alive. But, I knew there'd been a time where I felt with dainty hands and tasted with a picky tongue. Now? I don't think that'd ever be possible again. How could I explain in words that would fit my circumstances? I guess you could say...I'd become imaginary. Something like that, at least.

I was powerless to the truth.

Choking up, I wanted to push away the reality of it. I wanted to hide the very fact that I just _could not remember that damned name._

 _Hello?_ Sakura called, disturbed by the sudden silence.

I swallowed with an imagined throat before nervously yelling out, "Inner! Just...call me Inner."

 _Okay...Inner_ , _so tell me how we'll get stronger already!_

Grounding my unreal teeth, I huffed out a sigh, and jammed down every little somber thought of mine for later analysis before yelling out loudly, madly, " _SHANNARO!_ Listen up, Sakura, we're going to start training seriously from now on, okay? No more bullshitting around, we'll be going to places you never dreamt possible, got it?"

 _Yeah!_

"Now go home, cook the rest of that fish up and we'll be going running after dinner."

"Really?" Sakura asked out loud, seemingly both annoyed and exasperated. She felt tired and I could acknowledge that, but in the battle field no one would stop for mere _exhaustion_.

"Yes, now march! Shannaro!"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Double uploads because I could not resist.

* * *

 **The Voice Inside Your Head**

* * *

You and I were both...surprised...when it happened.

One second you were behaving normally—smiling, laughing. The very next you were grinding your fingers jerkily into your bowl of rice before stuffing it into your mouth. I had done that.

I would say sorry if I wasn't so... _excited._

You grumbled out an oath, chewing in both confusion and exasperation.

 _Was that you?_

You had asked, and I had just numbly looked at my handy work.

"Eat," was my only response.

* * *

 _Chapter Five_

* * *

My suspicions had been confirmed the next day at the Academy.

In my life I'd hardly understood the schooling in the Narutoverse, now after the years had passed, I could understand its complexities and underlying messages. But I was still rather confused about some things, like how Naruto had failed so many times to graduate, but had graduated along with his starting class?

My answer came in a package of little boy giggles and a spray of paint that had accidentally landed on poor Sakura's brand new sundress. I sighed at the show, feeling I had somehow gotten a headache even when I didn't have an actual head so to speak.

As Naruto rudely brushed passed a stuttering Sakura, I felt a spur of movement in my—I mean Sakura's hand as it came down on Naruto's shoulder right before he darted away. I pulled him back with as much force as I could make with the miniscule connection I had at that moment, which registered within me as something relatable to dial-up internet. I cheered inwardly as the movement was made in real time.

"Huh..? What?" Naruto asked as he looked back to glare at Sakura's surprised stuttering form. I stopped. Stupid! You're not supposed to do something so stupid! Sakura can't handle this on her own!

But then...maybe if I can move her body, I can also spoon feed words to her.

"Say _'You should really pay more attention to who you hit, that was mean.'_ ,"I mock whispered as I tried for that dial-up connection to Sakura's body.

A quacking Sakura stuttered a parody version of my words and I snickered internally as this was kind of like a game of telephone. She said, "You should really pay up for who you hit, or I'll be mean."

S-shit! No!

"Bit! Pro!" Followed a squeal.

"You're crazy, aren't you?" Naruto asked, quirking his eyebrows to express his discomfort. I let go of the connection and tried not to feel so bad when Sakura started abruptly laughing.

 _Was that you?_ Sakura asked mentally and I cheered once again at that lame connection that started to fizz as my hold on her faded. Feeling reassured somehow, Sakura left her stutter behind. I felt the wave of endorphins kick in within her tiny body as she stood up for herself. I tried to edge her on mentally, but I wasn't sure how much of that affected her in any way.

"Only someone crazy would hit me and try to run away without saying anything." Sakura, by the end of her sentence, had gone back to the finger poking as that self-confidence faded.

Naruto looked at Sakura funnily, then brushed the back of his head with the paws of his hand and gave a shuddering laugh. "You're funny."

Sakura felt brave as she nodded, "Now apologize." She looked at her feet, and I felt her wondering if she should continue with this or give up, and I felt myself fading with her bravado. The Naruto I stared at from Sakura's eyes wasn't the same Naruto from the series, he couldn't have been with how this was his start. He was a sad kid when he was little, always picking fights and acting like the clown of the group.

Naruto glared at the small girl before muttering out, "Sorry." He turned away after that and started down the hallway and turned at the training grounds entrance. For some reason Sakura saw a trail of darkness following the little boy, but she thought it was just a trick of the lighting.

 _It's not possible for someone to look so lonely._

"Yes it is."

 _You're still here..._ Sakura mumbled in her head. I gave a mental affirmative before continuing.

"You should try to make nice with him, I don't think he deserves the treatment he gets," I explained to her.

 _If you say so._ She sounded hesitant, as if she saw nothing wrong with his situation. I huffed out a sigh.

"Just watch him."

 _Okay..._

My connection dissipated, but I hoped she didn't forget my words. Or completely forgot me.

She went along the school day as usual, and I found that there were more ninja than usual in the classroom this year. Sakura had been one of few civilian born children to attend schooling at such a young age, but now that she was nine, going on ten, thing were slowly changing.

As I saw it, only children with ninja affiliation went in at five, as it was a young age and they needed to be the very best so they could show up other clans or establish their own. I knew that Mebuki and Kizashi, Sakura's parents, were both ninja. They had both been civilian born so I assume them putting Sakura in at that age was so she could get a better grip on the career before they had.

As far as I was concerned, every single one of the Rookie Nine had affiliations to a large clan, while Sakura didn't. So it made sense to me when I saw each and every single one of them in my classroom with a teacher that wasn't Iruka quite yet, though I had seen him somewhere on Sakura's way to the Academy.

I was quite happy when I noticed Sakura's wondering gaze during lessons to the yellow headed boy that sat desks away from her. She made a face at him before paying attention to her books once more. Already it was the second month into the school year and they were studying on more advanced topics than the year previous. It didn't change the fact that Sakura was lightyears ahead of it, she still paid attention. At the moment Sakura was going over how to write a few key kanji, which meant I was learning to read it since I couldn't really write in someone's head.

This gave me an idea, one I would like if it worked.

I could teach Sakura English, maybe it would be useless, and she'd definitely forget it when she didn't use it. Still, it was worth a shot, right? Maybe I could work on that dial-up and try to get a clearer broadcast. It could be great practice now that I knew it was possible.

 _He's throwing thumbtacks when no one's looking._ Sakura mused, brushing the strands of her short hair to the back of her ear.

Mari, a girl who'd been messing with poor Sakura shot the pinkette a disgusted look and pointed to her forehead.

"Ignore that, he's doing it for attention."

 _I know...but that girl is just mean._ Sakura said back, looking away from Mari and to Naruto who had just shot like ten thumbtacks into the back of some guy's head. He held in his laugh with the back of hand and shook in his chair. _Are you sure?_

Not really...but I assumed. "Quite."

 _Where does he get all those?_

Sakura held in her own giggles as the latest victim of Naruto's meddling turned around to face the boy just to get a face full of pointy things. Said victim stood up, crying out in sudden pain.

I had to agree with my pinkette when she bursted into laughter, as did the rest of the class, aside from our instructor whom immediately was on the meddling Uzumaki faster than I could say ichi.

Sakura didn't get my words until the end of the day when all the parents came to pick up their little ducklings. Kizashi was on a mission out of Konoha so he couldn't pick up Sakura, but apparently Mebuki was running a little late.

Sakura had waited patiently as the influx of people larger than her faded and when no one remained but a few others whose parents were also late she saw Naruto sitting on a familiar swing watching it all unfold. Sakura assumed at first that his mom was late as well, but his expression stopped her.

"You didn't play with that boy, did you?" sounded a mature demanding alto, and upon the sound Sakura swiveled in confusion. She saw an older woman, baring heavily down on her young one, while giving side glances towards Naruto who noticed it all, but looked like he was clearly used to it.

 _She's acting like...like..._

"He's a monster?"I added. Sakura gulped, and she quickly turned away from the sight. "Listen, you don't have to be friends with the kid, just make sure he's not so alienated."

To me, I knew Sakura didn't have it in her to pick someone else up, she might've been a medic in canon but she had always been the weak one who got picked up. I guess you could say I assumed everything would play out as it had before, but I had no other reason to doubt that. I couldn't affect anything.

Sakura nodded inwardly, turned her side to face the so-called-beast and approached him with a determined look on her face.

"Are you waiting for your mom?" Sakura asked, forcing the confidence that sounded in her slightly shaking voice.

Naruto's face darkened at her words, but he looked at her for a moment. She didn't look mean, she didn't look like she hated him. He shook his head.

Sakura's brow furrowed, and when she noticed that she consciously slapped her forehead so he couldn't see it. "Then who are you waiting for? Your dad?" Sakura was starting to regret coming over here...

Naruto looked at her for a while before answering. " I don't have parents."

The words sounded venomous as he said it, but for the most part it was clear agony over longing for such a thing.

Sakura didn't pause as she nodded, but plastered on a smile for him to see. I was surprised by the genuinity of it, but then again Sakura had always been a nice person aside from when she dealt with hyperactive people like Lee and Naruto.

"Ah, man, how lucky are you?"

Naruto looked at her with an odd expression on his face before shaking his head. "Not lucky at all."

"Well, look on the bright side, you don't have to deal with the constant nagging to clean up, and you get to eat whatever you want, right?"

Naruto looked like those were all the kinds of things he'd dreamed of having. Sakura paused in her attempt at conversation and stopped. She felt a tug at her hands and struggled to control her fingers that tried their best to snake their way to a lonely looking Naruto.

"Pat the cutie on the back," I suggested.

 _E-eh? Should I? Geh! He's not cute!_

"He looks like he needs it."

Sakura gulped before placing her palms on the shoulders on the small mini version of the boy I knew. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the contact. She awkwardly patted his shoulder before looking up to the sound of her name being called.

"Uh, see you tomorrow." Sakura whined out as she headed towards Mebuki's tired drawl. Sakura's mother yawned tiredly as Sakura zoomed her way up to her. She gave her a look before tugging at Sakura's cute sundress, sniffing at the paint that still sat on the skirts of it. Sakura exchanged a pleading glance.

"Good job today," I murmured and the both of us looked back on a brilliantly red face.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: It's been awhile, hi! Still one of the most fun things to work on, should probs do that more, heh.

* * *

 **The Voice Inside Your Head**

* * *

You are upset, I can understand but I promise I didn't _really_ mean to do that to him. He just said something stupid and you weren't going to do anything! Please understand, sometimes Sasuke is also wrong. He's not perfect like you think he is. He's human—love and treat him like one.

You are so much wiser, so much kinder, and so much stronger than you pretend not to be. Follow that gut of yours—it will save you!

* * *

 _Chapter Six_

* * *

If one expected Sakura and Naruto's friendship to blossom, one would probably be a little too hopeful.

I hadn't expected it myself but I have to admit, I wanted her to do _something_. Hang out with the kid after school, have fun playdates, uh, I don't know. Whatever it is kids do. Ninja seemed to be a popular game...

But then I also knew that Sakura just wasn't in a place to pick others up when she was much more focused on herself. In the past, prior to Ino helpfully picking up on what I'd been screeching at her for a while, she was shy and considerably weak to the views of others. Bit by bit, she'd grown of course and now she was learning medicine, a way to keep her brain busy on other things that didn't concern socializing.

If I were honest...uh, it might have been my fault she didn't have a social life as a kid. I don't know. God knows I didn't have one in my past life—I was always more comfortable by myself but now, considering the fact that I'm a little girl's head and am probably imaginary by this point, that's not gonna happen anytime soon. The next best thing was making Sakura more of a loner, which she became just from the sheer fact that she had no time for others when most of her day was spent reading advanced medical texts, studying anatomy, tenketsu diagrams, then the documents on the side effects of poisons and how to combat them through antitodes. Not to mention the fact that the little pinkette was learning how to make them herself...

Either way, the most Sakura did for Naruto was not blatantly ignore him. She acknowledged his existance with a look, maybe a wave if she was feeling in a chipper mood, and that was that. Which was probably why he started to hang around her, pestering her into action as she tried to squint through the text about the delicate opperations that dealt with the heart and the methods to keep a paitent alive if it ever stopped beating. Chakra pulses to mimic the beats—long chapter made short, as it was otherwise an entire chapter based around getting it through a nine year old's head not to fuck around and to only do it if it was on the battlefield if the situation called for it. It was meant to take a lot of skill, control, and the determination to multi-task, i.e. helping the paitent stay alive long enough to heal the damage. But it could easily make things worse, causing undue damage to the heart if the pulses were ever too strong or too weak. Perfect control...

Which was what Sakura sought after as she ate another faled fish for lunch that day.

Naruto slumped in front of her, attemping to meet her gaze.

"Say hi to the kid, he's feeling lonely," I told Sakura and she inwardly rolled her eyes at me.

 _I don't get it. You must really want to be friends with Naruto. He's so loud though!_ Sakura clearly did not want to hang around people with high energy. Not that I really did either so I could perfectly understand her apprehension but well, Naruto was _Naruto_. The main man himself in this story I'd been prematurely tossed into.

I inwardly shrugged at her but wasn't sure if she could feel or sense the motion, "If things go the way they're looking, I think you'll thank me if you can get along with Naruto. So, I dunno, ruffle his hair or something."

She distinctly shook her head at the thought and gave Naruto an exasperated look as he played with her pencil. That was right around the time _Sasuke_ came into play, moving past Naruto with the slightest brush against the blond boy. Instantly Naruto was scowling as he turned to snipe at Sasuke for not apologizing for knocking against him. Sakura got pretty annoyed by that, rolling her eyes at Naruto as she tried to studiously ignore Sasuke in favor of her books.

The crush didn't hadn't gone away but I'd been pushing too many thoughts into her head, like slowly brainwashing her into being more earnest in her work than wanting Sasuke's attention. _That comes for later,_ she was thinking to herself now and had to reward herself with the image of a family with the Uchiha, happy and safe in his arms. With a bit of mischief on my part, I added to the picture and in came Sarada, red glasses glinting with the spark of the sunshine.

I didn't know why but it made me sigh longingly, which isn't something I normally do.

That was right around the time I remembered _my_ fantasies of a family, of having people to love and depend on...

I inwardly shook my head and tuned in just as Sasuke was saying his piece.

"Knock it off, dobe," he said, hand on his hip as he glared at Naruto who's face was screwed up like he'd eaten something sour, "Don't even breathe around me. I don't want to catch whatever it is that makes you so stupid."

Sakura was flinching a bit at this—Ami had once said that to her—but she was more for Sasuke in this case because well, it was _Sasuke_ , and also, he hadn't even pushed into Naruto!

It didn't really matter to me. I was honestly just miffed that any of these kids were mean to each other. I wanted them to get along, to be a well-oiled machine that I could recall them _never_ being. Someone _always_ had a problem on their team, whether it was Sasuke not wanting to get close to people he thought made him weak, or Naruto who thought the Uchiha was being too cocky for his britches, or Sakura who thought she was too far behind two boys that were special in their own way. Honestly, they were the most volatile team out of the entirity of the Rookie Nine, had always been and well, let's be honest, I'd never been the fan of in fighting.

Cute teasing was cool, that was great, it was _friendly_. But people squabbling always, always ticked me off. It made me want to sit them all down and get them to talk like _adults_ , to be able to voice their thoughts, problems, feelings and for the others to possibly empathize, at least understand and theorize possible solutions. Smart, logical ways to handle the confusion that was human emotion. Funny, that I'm the one to think of all of this when I'm not even human!

I wasn't even thinking when I reached towards Sasuke, grabbed his shoulders and forced him to sit in the seat next to Naruto. The blond was speechless as he looked wide eyed toward Sakura, who was actually mortified by the actions she'd unintentionally taken against her crush.

For my part, I was honestly pleased that I'd managed to sit him the fuck down. For good measure, I flicked him on the forehead and met his incredulous eyes.

"Eat a goddamn tamagoyaki and shut up," I said, picking up a piece from Sakura's bento with a toothpick and jabbing it into his open mouth. I wasn't done though. I looked to Naruto, shoved another piece into his mouth, and glared at the both of them, "Now eat egg and stop being headaches. You're supposed to be training to be shinobi, not children, so act like it."

 _Inner!_ Sakura squeaked inwardly as I released my unintentional hold on her. She flushed darkly as soon as she came back into her body, picked up her book and tried to remain intent on the words even as she wondered the best way to apologize to Sasuke for actions she'd never wanted to take.

She kept glancing at the two of them from the corner of her eyes and was almost shamefully pleased that Sasuke was looking at her. His eyes on her, dark with black brows cutting forward thoughtfully. Ah! He was actually _looking_ at her, with something akin to interest that he usually only gave to school work. Which was more than he'd ever given to any other girl in the entire school. Score!

I wondered if this got me off the hook but nope.

 _This wasn't the first impression I wanted to make on Sasuke-kun!_ She whined, trying to hide the pleasure that his extended glance gave to her.

Naruto, for his part, took my words had open season on Sakura's lunchbox and was busy filling him with tamagoyaki and pieces of Sakura's fried fish. She was vaguely annoyed by this but got over it with an eye roll, a slap to his head, and quickly covering up the dango she intended to preserve as a snack for later.

Sasuke released an annoyed huff, "Can I go now?"

Startled, Sakura yelped but relented with a nod even as she inwardly begged him to stay. Whatever, I say, go be a headache elsewhere. I'm tired.


End file.
